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- Sep 22, 2020
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I do a lot of work in the area for various charity organisations and as such I see houses and hostels in varying degrees of disrepair. Over the past couple of days I was asked to inspect a leak coming into a basement kitchen where water was coming through the hob extractor. The owner is known for being hard to handle and has a attitude whereby she knows better than you.
Here is the email response I sent to the charity this morning.... Names etc omitted for obvious reasons...
"Hi all, this is a written account for your records of my meeting today with R B, owner of 8 NV, my arrival and findings on Wednesday 24th Feb.
I was called out on Wednesday 24th Feb to see where the leak into the kitchen was coming from. This leak was coming through and around the hob extractor unit, a unit that is 240 V.
There is a service hatch above the extractor so I removed a section to gain access to see if it was the waste from the shower to where it joins the soil pipe. Running the shower directly down its waste and observing for 10 minutes no leak was present. However the joist above the soil did show signs of water being present. Within this boxing in section there is a live 13 Amp socket, some form of transformer and a termination block for which I have no idea. Suffice to say there are live electrics directly in the vicinity of a water leak.
Upon further investigation a hole and cracks in the shower grouting were found and it was decided to remove the old grout and redo the complete bottom section (white tiles). During the removal process one tile fell completely off, the tiles surrounding are also loose and are no longer attached to the bare plasterboard. Water has been eating away at the plasterboard and running along leaving just its backing paper attached to the dot and dab adhesive on the back of the tiles. This has at some point been a temporary fix. The white tiles themselves do not match any others within the bathroom. Directly behind the tiles where the hole in the grout was, the plasterboard is none existent as in it has decayed to nothing so there is nothing to even begin to try and tile against.
Today my meeting with RB began with me explaining the damage, the fact that water was dripping where live electrics are present and the remedy. The removal of all the white tiles and old plasterboard is required. Cement board to be fixed and new tiles fitted.
RB informed me that she was not prepared to do this as she is planning on doing a refurb in June and all she wanted me to do is fill it with cardboard and stick the tiles back on. This I said I cannot do as this was not a sound and watertight fix and the risk of further leaks where live electrics are present is dangerous not only to the residents but to anyone who might come into contact with the shower and the shower in itself could become live. She then informed me that I "must" replace the shower hose and rail along with sticking the tiles back in place and she will get someone else. This I cannot do. This would imply the shower is safe to use when it is not. I have left the shower in an unusable state deliberately so as to protect the residents and clear myself and A**** Housing of any responsibility should RB get someone silly enough to try and bodge it up. I have also not refitted the service hatch in the kitchen so as to reveal where the live feeds are for inspection. Should someone come and repair the shower I would be very suspicious if we see the very same tiles put back in place, this would indicate that an unsafe and unsound repair has been carried out and money is more important to her than the safety and wellbeing of the residents.
By all means if you need to discuss this further with me I am as always happy to help".
I have taken plenty of photographs and videos to back both myself and the charity. Given her past history it would not surprise me in the slightest if she got someone in to do a bodge job, which the repair originally was after all, and put lives at risk over money. It truly makes my blood boil when people do this. I have a great rapport with the residents, I help them where I can in my free time and they are all aware of the situation and aware that I would like pictures should someone else come to "fix" the shower.
Bad landlords putting people at risk is just unacceptable...
Sorry just had to vent...
Munchy
Here is the email response I sent to the charity this morning.... Names etc omitted for obvious reasons...
"Hi all, this is a written account for your records of my meeting today with R B, owner of 8 NV, my arrival and findings on Wednesday 24th Feb.
I was called out on Wednesday 24th Feb to see where the leak into the kitchen was coming from. This leak was coming through and around the hob extractor unit, a unit that is 240 V.
There is a service hatch above the extractor so I removed a section to gain access to see if it was the waste from the shower to where it joins the soil pipe. Running the shower directly down its waste and observing for 10 minutes no leak was present. However the joist above the soil did show signs of water being present. Within this boxing in section there is a live 13 Amp socket, some form of transformer and a termination block for which I have no idea. Suffice to say there are live electrics directly in the vicinity of a water leak.
Upon further investigation a hole and cracks in the shower grouting were found and it was decided to remove the old grout and redo the complete bottom section (white tiles). During the removal process one tile fell completely off, the tiles surrounding are also loose and are no longer attached to the bare plasterboard. Water has been eating away at the plasterboard and running along leaving just its backing paper attached to the dot and dab adhesive on the back of the tiles. This has at some point been a temporary fix. The white tiles themselves do not match any others within the bathroom. Directly behind the tiles where the hole in the grout was, the plasterboard is none existent as in it has decayed to nothing so there is nothing to even begin to try and tile against.
Today my meeting with RB began with me explaining the damage, the fact that water was dripping where live electrics are present and the remedy. The removal of all the white tiles and old plasterboard is required. Cement board to be fixed and new tiles fitted.
RB informed me that she was not prepared to do this as she is planning on doing a refurb in June and all she wanted me to do is fill it with cardboard and stick the tiles back on. This I said I cannot do as this was not a sound and watertight fix and the risk of further leaks where live electrics are present is dangerous not only to the residents but to anyone who might come into contact with the shower and the shower in itself could become live. She then informed me that I "must" replace the shower hose and rail along with sticking the tiles back in place and she will get someone else. This I cannot do. This would imply the shower is safe to use when it is not. I have left the shower in an unusable state deliberately so as to protect the residents and clear myself and A**** Housing of any responsibility should RB get someone silly enough to try and bodge it up. I have also not refitted the service hatch in the kitchen so as to reveal where the live feeds are for inspection. Should someone come and repair the shower I would be very suspicious if we see the very same tiles put back in place, this would indicate that an unsafe and unsound repair has been carried out and money is more important to her than the safety and wellbeing of the residents.
By all means if you need to discuss this further with me I am as always happy to help".
I have taken plenty of photographs and videos to back both myself and the charity. Given her past history it would not surprise me in the slightest if she got someone in to do a bodge job, which the repair originally was after all, and put lives at risk over money. It truly makes my blood boil when people do this. I have a great rapport with the residents, I help them where I can in my free time and they are all aware of the situation and aware that I would like pictures should someone else come to "fix" the shower.
Bad landlords putting people at risk is just unacceptable...
Sorry just had to vent...
Munchy